Oh by the way – I don't own absolutely anything in this story apart from the character Jen and the plotline.

Chapter 3 - Reasoning and Revelations

Harry followed Jen up the path towards the house. He didn't recognize their surroundings as they had come up to the back of the house, but he knew the house very well. Jen slipped the back door open and walked in without even a glance back to see if Harry was following. Harry hesitated at the back door, a wave of emotion washing over him. He was about to go in to Grimmauld Place, Sirius' home…and yet it wasn't Sirius' home. Sirius would never be a part of it again. Harry couldn't dwell on it for long; Jen's hand reached
out and pulled him harshly through the open door. "Close the damned door, Potter!" she snapped, "It's bloody freezing!" she slammed the door shut after him. Harry studied the room, the kitchen which was nothing like the one he remembered. For a moment Harry thought he was back in the Burrow rather than the home of the Order. The kitchen had been completely taken over by Mrs Weasley's influence.

"What?" Jen demanded, as she threw herself down at the kitchen table, lifting her glamorous shoes onto the tabletop. "Where's Sirius?" he muttered, softly. Jen froze at the table,
"What did you say?" she asked. Harry looked around the room, trying to find some resemblance to the kitchen he remembered. "You got rid of everything?" he asked, the anger boiling inside of him. Jen looked up at him, trying to figure out what he was getting at.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, slowly so he could understand her.
"Sirius!" he roared, making her jump back and lose her balance on her chair. She faltered as she tried to regain composure, "What have you done to his house!" Harry shouted, "You destroyed everything I had left to remember him by!" Jen looked, calmly up at him, footsteps were rushing around above them, alerted by the shouts from the room below.
"How could you just get rid of him like that? How dare you do-"
"How dare we!" she screamed, making Harry jump this time, "Sirius wanted us to redecorate! Remember!" Harry backed down as she drew herself up to full height, intimidating him to great effect, the candles on the table flared with her temper, "Don't you ever make the assumption you were the only one here who loved Sirius. Don't you ever think that you are the only one affected by his death. Yes he died and we're still alive. Do you think he wanted us to sit around and cry about him all day every day! He wanted us to move on !"
"He was my godfather!" Harry tried to shout back, but his voice faltered,
"And he was like a brother to me!" she snapped back, "He looked after me when nobody else would! He was always there for me! He taught me everything I knew! Don't you ever, EVER say 'we just got rid of him.'"
"He was the closest thing to family I had!" Harry snapped back, hopelessly.
"You think you're the only one to lose family to Voldemort?" she whispered, dangerously quiet before turning on her heel and sweeping from the room, almost knocking Dumbledore and Lupin over as they stood, transfixed in the doorway.
"Jen!" Lupin called after her.
"WHATEVER!" she shouted back, and Harry could hear the front door slam after her.

Dumbledore sighed heavily and turned to face Harry, who sank in to the chair she had just vacated, stunned into silence.

"Welcome back, Harry," he said, apparently unaffected by the sudden outburst from the teenager. Dumbledore and Lupin took their seats near the boy and were totally prepared for the onslaught of questions that came from his mouth.

"Why am I here?" he asked, immediately. Not that he minded being where he was but he would have liked to know why he should go so long without contact to be suddenly whisked back to the Order…especially after last summer.

"A lot has happened, Harry," Dumbledore began. "Voldemort hasn't made a return per se, but Death Eater activity has increased by a phenomenal amount, it appears he is trying to eliminate all major threats before he makes an official return. The Weasleys have already been forced into hiding, a number of wizarding families have been killed in 'accidents' and we have reason to believe that their next target was you." He remained calm throughout this, rather rehearsed speech. Harry, however was looking up in shock,

"And what has the ministry done?" he demanded. Lupin spoke up, with almost a smug tone,

"The ministry is in chaos. Fudge is still denying any sign of the return of Voldemort, but the signs are so obvious and now with families being killed left right and centre he's having a hard time suppressing all this."

"And yet the public are still blissfully unaware. Life continues as normal," Dumbledore pointed out. Harry sat, rigid, trying to contemplate the magnitude of the events that had occurred while he, had been furious with people for not paying him any attention.

"Why did you send Jen?" Harry asked, suddenly. Dumbledore and Lupin smirked,

"She seemed the best person for the job," Dumbledore said, after much deliberation.

"She doesn't like me, very much," Harry told them, "and what was with that outburst just now?" Lupin shifted, uncomfortably in his seat, Dumbledore's smile faltered,

"She's been…" Dumbledore began but Lupin continued,

"Very feisty of late," he muttered, "She and…Sirius," the name caught in his throat, sounding somewhat choked, "very close. They were like brother and sister." Lupin paused so Dumbledore could continue,

"she was due to start college in the next term, instead she had to leave her old life and join us here for her own protection. Jen is not one to be forced into something and accept it…" Dumbledore's burned with something as he spoke, admiration…or was it pride?

"College?" Harry asked, surprised, "I didn't know the wizarding world had colleges, I thought we stayed on in school?"

"We do," Dumbledore assured him, "But you may have noticed Jen is not a pupil of Hogwarts. As a matter of fact, she is not a pupil at any wizarding school. She preferred to take the muggle way of life…"

"And now, here she is," Lupin declared, "And she hates it. Rescuing you, fighting death eaters…"

"But she's only what…sixteen?" Harry cried, Lupin muttered, 'just' but didn't make any further comment, "You send her to fight death eaters?"

"She's a good fighter," Lupin assured him.

"She's sixteen, she drives a motorbike?"

"Yes we are aware of that," Dumbledore sighed,

"And the bars and the temper and the music and the…"

"Although I must admit," Dumbledore added, interrupting Lupin's slight rant, "Greenday have begun to grow on me." Lupin nodded in agreement, sending Harry into another stage of disbelief, then a thought passed into his mind,

"So…will you be sending me to fight death eaters?" Harry asked, an element of hope crossing into his voice. Dumbledore shook his head, solemnly,

"No, Harry," he said, gently, "Right now you're life is in danger. We will need you to fight, but it will be in your own way, when the time is right. We will need you all," he smiled, his eyes flickering to the doorway. Harry looked up to see Ron and Hermione standing in the doorway, a mixture of expressions as they looked on Harry, "Well," Dumbledore announced, "I better go and drag this granddaughter home".

TBC